Victim of "The Boy Racer" Act

[5amchris 45]

Get the guy that fixed your car to comment for you? he is the one that did the work to the car so knows what was wrong and what the cars limits were... I would do what Pjay is saying and email to them explaining your side of the story.

Goodluck.

[Apex 693]

Is this for real, I have had a fair amount of run ins with my friends the Police and it from what I have experienced your story does not add up.

If they have no evidence or even a photo of you in the car they can’t do sh*t and im very very surprised that it is going to court and if it is you have nothing to wary about if you are in fact innocent and there is no evidence of you being a f**kwit.

Last time I was taken to court for sustained loss of traction the case was thrown out and the cop was reprimanded as he had absolutely no evidence and did not ticket me at the time of the innocent. He was laughed at.

Even with Police taken photographic evidence of your car it wont go to court unless they can prove your speed or if you were in fact even driving.

I don’t think we have the whole story from you.

Oh and the judge won’t give a f**k about your cars ability to do skids or reliability problems. Trust me . He won’t care so you are focusing on it from completely the wrong angle on the outset.

I have a lawyer I can recommend but you may have to sell your car to cover his costs.

[bellicose 9]

I don’t think we have the whole story from you.

Oh and the judge won’t give a f**k about your cars ability to do skids or reliability problems. Trust me . He won’t care so you are focusing on it from completely the wrong angle on the outset.

My thoughts exactly.

[pjay 8]

Why don't you write into the Police as per regular process?

Again.

[Docile 64]

the case will be revolving around 'you' - what the police said, what you did and not what your car can or cannot do as said above.

there is are free public legal advisor that can help you before you decide to get a lawyer i suggest you try one first. tell him the story and see what he recommends.

[l0w320 0]

almost the same thing is happening to me i got accused of swerving at oncoming traffic and puling hand gestures out the window according to some member of the public which is bullshit the acuall facts are that some idiot in front of me slammed on his brakes so therefore i had to swerve out of the way to avoid hitting him.. the police cannot do anything if they have no hard evidence and if in fact u are innocent just keep saying not guilty if they have no proof of you losing traction at all and if the photos do not show you losing any traction then what are you worried about?

[e38king 1]

almost the same thing is happening to me i got accused of swerving at oncoming traffic and puling hand gestures out the window according to some member of the public which is bullshit the acuall facts are that some idiot in front of me slammed on his brakes so therefore i had to swerve out of the way to avoid hitting him.. the police cannot do anything if they have no hard evidence and if in fact u are innocent just keep saying not guilty if they have no proof of you losing traction at all and if the photos do not show you losing any traction then what are you worried about?

I have seen you driving down at Mission Bay and would probably believe the public. If you are following a car, by law, you should be able to safely stop behind them - even if their brake lights are NOT working.

back on topic - get a lawyer, don't worry about whether the car can or cannot do burnouts, it is a moot point.

Edited February 11, 2011 by e38king

[deane30 30]

Is this for real, I have had a fair amount of run ins with my friends the Police and it from what I have experienced your story does not add up.

If they have no evidence or even a photo of you in the car they can’t do sh*t and im very very surprised that it is going to court and if it is you have nothing to wary about if you are in fact innocent and there is no evidence of you being a f**kwit.

Last time I was taken to court for sustained loss of traction the case was thrown out and the cop was reprimanded as he had absolutely no evidence and did not ticket me at the time of the innocent. He was laughed at.

Even with Police taken photographic evidence of your car it wont go to court unless they can prove your speed or if you were in fact even driving.

I don’t think we have the whole story from you.

You don't think his story adds up and that you are very very suprised that he is being taken to court when the police don't have any evidence but then you go on to say that you have been taken to court for a traffic offence with "absolutly no evidence". Surely you of all people would then believe it could happen??

[l0w320 0]

of course it can happen people talk sh*t all the time if you didnt do anything then you have nothing to worry about just tell your side of the story in court thats all you can really do. and e38king i achknowledge i my driving is considered crazy or whatever sometimes i admit that but this time i genuinley was not in the wrong

[Apex 693]

You don't think his story adds up and that you are very very suprised that he is being taken to court when the police don't have any evidence but then you go on to say that you have been taken to court for a traffic offence with "absolutly no evidence". Surely you of all people would then believe it could happen??

Sorry I didn't word that very well.

In my case the witness was a Police officer, what surprises me is that the Police would take a mater to court going on the word of the public, they should have simply contacted you and told you off at worst. They cant do anything.

As P-jay has said, a simple letter get to the bottom of most said offenses.

[KingPango 0]

Im sorry to be the pessimist but I have found through endless run ins with the Police that 99% of the time I was in fact being a d*ck head or genuinely pissing off the public and deserved what I got.

Yeah I would agree to that

[dickhead 0]

I am copying it

to our Law and Order spokesperson Hon Clayton Cosgrove and our Justice

Spokesperson Charles Chauvel MP, for their consideration. You raise in

my view important principles of due process. It highlights a major risk

around the "boy racer" legislation."

Clayton Cosgrove was the sh*t kicker who thought up these stupid laws in the first place. In CHCH they banned people driving around the city. It's funny. middle-aged, middle-class people don't seem to mind "political correctness gone mad" if it doesn't affect them.

[mark247 38]

If you dont have enough money for a lawyer, like i recommended before, and you think you are genuinely innocent, write a letter explaining the situation clearly and give it to the duty solicitor as soon as you can get hold of one on the day at court.

The duty solicitor will read this to the judge for you, stating that you wrote the letter, which at least proves to the judge you are literate, and then the judge will question you.

I did this one time when I was done for careless driving ( managed to slide through a 4 way intersection on my back after coming off a bike ) and it worked really well, they really appreciated someone trying to help themselves out.

Please dont turn up to court with a flat cap and a FOX hoody, because you will go to jail. ha.

And dont lie, to your lawyer or the judge, because that is just plain stupid.

If you are guilty, bend over.

Edited February 11, 2011 by mark247

[Linden 0]

I slipped around a corner in the wet on an uneven surface, pulled over and got ripped from my car and handcuffed, done for sustained loss of traction and my car got my impounded, way overdone by police i was polite and pulled over straight away not much i could do though.

When it went to court it was changed to careless driving so i couldnt exactly fight it - I lost it in the wet..

Just an example but sometimes theres not much you can do about it, i did alot of reading of the laws and of past cases, you pretty much have to state it 100% clearly that the law does not apply for this instance. Dont make excuses like 'its impossible for my car to do this' it wont work..

[bmpower 3]

If you do end up in court take the advice given. Dress properly, have any information handy in case you get asked, do your own research and understand what your being charged with etc.

I was given a speeding ticket for 111 in a 100 zone when i wasn't speeding, i told the cop i wasn't speeding etc which she took offense to and still gave me a ticket. I wrote in countless letters which got me nowhere and ended up talking to the road policing officer who then gave me the opportunity to go to court, which i took. Also they made mistakes in at least 2 or 3 of their replying letters, one stating the officer was a man as opposed to woman, and another saying the officer gave me the opportunity to see the radar read out which she didn't. I walked to the car to see for myself after she gave the ticket.

The day i went to court i was the only one who turned up in a shirt, tie and trousers, i was the only one who pleaded not guilty, i was one of the few who represented themselves and i had a folder full of everything from their evidence, to print outs of the acts to how the radar actually works. I gave my version of events etc etc and i won. The officer who gave me the ticket didn't even turn up to court. After seeing all of the little shits stand before me making idiots of themselves in court and getting fined etc i think the judge was relieved to have someone taking it seriously.

The officer also sent me a letter a few weeks prior to the court date telling me to attend the Marton Court when in fact my hearing was at Palmerston North District Court - lucky i checked. She also claimed i called her 'a f**king pig' and a whole host of other things which the judge saw through.

I have had tickets where i was wrong which i paid and accepted. This time i wasn't in the wrong and fought and won. If you are in the wrong man up, if your not, fight it. It cost me more money and time than the $80 and 20demerits i was getting, but i did it on principal.

Taking this to court i risked being 'convicted' and having to pay court costs on top of the fine, rather than just having an 'infringement'.

Good luck.....

Edited February 11, 2011 by bmpower

[cliffdunedin 8]

Having a few beers last night I brought this story up with some mates (one who’s a Lawyer and one a Cop)

They said they would find it hard to believe that the police would push for charges if it seemed so black and white, as you are stating. (You have never had a traffic charge, your car is legal, you were not spotted by the police losing traction, and the member of public will NOT have proof as you are 100% telling the truth)

They also said you may well be telling the honest truth and if that is the case, you need to get a good lawyer or if you cannot afford one to apply for legal aide and get a good one…if this happens and all charges are thrown out you have every right to go too the police complaints authority and place a request for the cost of impound and towing fees, court/lawyer costs, any transport costs incurred while your car was impounded.

My 2c

[NVADER 54]

The day i went to court i was the only one who turned up in a shirt, tie and trousers, i was the only one who pleaded not guilty, i was one of the few who represented themselves and i had a folder full of everything from their evidence, to print outs of the acts to how the radar actually works. I gave my version of events etc etc and i won. The officer who gave me the ticket didn't even turn up to court. After seeing all of the little shits stand before me making idiots of themselves in court and getting fined etc i think the judge was relieved to have someone taking it seriously.

This. Is what I'm trying to do. My view is that if the judge sees that I'm obviously committed to proving my innocence beyond reasonable doubt, it's going to make the police's heresay evidence look like the sham it is.

I don't mean to be rude but; you guys speculating that I'm not telling the full story would do well to go and have yourselves a read of the Land Transport Amendment Act 2003 http://www.police.govt.nz/service/road/boyracerdetails.html which gives police the authority to stop and impound a vehicle for 28 days if they believe on reasonable grounds that a vehicle has been operated in an illegal street race, an unnecessary exhibition of speed, or a burnout. Nowhere in the law does it say that they have to provide a single fact before laying charges, nor does it say that they have to produce them in court. All they need is "reasonable grounds". This law could potentially be used against anyone and my feeling is, if more people knew about how it actually works, there'd be a lot more people up in arms about it.

I'm not taking the ride to try and get off a fine because I was being an idiot, I'm trying to prove that I was innocent against a charge which, as stated by a lawyer I spoke to (Patrick Winkler - http://www.activelegal.co.nz/) is heavily weighted on the side of the Police.

[E36 2]

Was that your case that was referenced on in the Wairarapa Times Age a couple of days ago? Police looking for information about a red BMW doing burnouts in the Bentley Street area around 7pm one night? It said they know the rego of the car but just looking for more info.

Interestingly it didn't say 'reportedly doing burnouts' or 'allegedly doing burnouts'.

But either way, i wonder if the fact that they're looking for information from the public suggests that their case may be a bit weak and they're looking for other witnesses to provide something more concrete.

Edited February 14, 2011 by E36

[ED1RTY 2]

ftp

do a skid

[NVADER 54]

Was that your case that was referenced on in the Wairarapa Times Age a couple of days ago? Police looking for information about a red BMW doing burnouts in the Bentley Street area around 7pm one night? It said they know the rego of the car but just looking for more info.

Interestingly it didn't say 'reportedly doing burnouts' or 'allegedly doing burnouts'.

But either way, i wonder if the fact that they're looking for information from the public suggests that their case may be a bit weak and they're looking for other witnesses to provide something more concrete.

Hey na mine's blue and this was down Lincoln Road/Villa Street.

Interestingly, my car's now been released and the charge has been reduced to careless driving which I'll hopefully just get diversion for.

What pisses me right off though, is that I still had to pay $180 bucks for towing and a weeks worth of storage, and my cars now got about 6 or 7 big scratches down the drivers side of the car, and every single window has had the tints scratched and ripped. That guy that wrote a letter full of fabricated crap has got a lot to answer for.

[M5V8 337]

Very interesting thread.

As car enthusiast this act is aimed at us all, we should all be concerned.

It wasn't that long ago I had a few letter's from the Police in the mail explaining there had been a complaint about my driving. They explained there had been a complaint from the public and that if the complainant wished to give evidence in court there would be a ticket.

In one case I was pulled over by the Police just after and spoken to about excessive speed, however I was polite and explained that whilst I may have overtaken a few cars (about 10ish) in one go I of course never admitted to breaking any laws.

That was the end of it. I'm not claiming here that I wasn't speeding, I probably was but it wasn't dangerous.

However does this new law imply that even tho I wasn't caught on radar by Police a complaint, even if it's not followed up by an under oath statement infront of a judge, that the Police have enough evidence to charge drivers based on what? public complaint to *555?

Edited February 14, 2011 by M5V8

[Apex 693]

It’s scary alright, the NZ public freak out when they get passed, any moving object faster than them is deemed dangerous and scarry.

I had a lady call me the other day (sign written car + cell phone camera) to complain about my staffs (me) driving stating that they were speeding and driving like a crazy post people.

Seems me having my cruise control set to 110kph on the motorway blew her mind, more so that I went around her and her husband in their lovely “king of the road†red Commodore sitting in the passing lane for no apparent reason.

Edited February 14, 2011 by Apex

[M5V8 337]

I would have let loose on her for hogging the overtaking lane!

LOL.

I hate people whom do that.

[Docile 64]

eye witness account of the even is all relative. as eg above. unless multiple witnesses account for the same event occuring then it has little weight as evidence. and defence can challenge the integrity of the

[bellicose 9]

I would have let loose on her for hogging the overtaking lane!

LOL.

I hate people whom do that.

I do 100kph in the fast lane of the motorway all the time.

The speed limit is 100kph and if there are no emergency vehicles trying to get past then i aint moving over.

F*ck the lot of ya.